# seanchas
## Irish
### Alternative forms

* seanchasc (Ulster)
* seanchus (superseded)

### Etymology

From Old Irish senchas, senchus (“old tales, ancient history, tradition; genealogy; traditional law”), from senchae (“custodian of tradition, historian”) + -as, -us; senchae is from *seno-kʷoisos (literally “old witness”), from Proto-Celtic *senos (“old”) (from Proto-Indo-European *sénos), plus a derivative of *kʷiseti (“to see”); see ad·cí for more. By surface analysis, seancha (“genealogist, historigrapher”) +‎ -as.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈʃan̪ˠəxəsˠ/, /ˈʃanˠəxəsˠ/
* (Ulster) IPA: /ˈʃanˠəxəsˠk/, /ˈʃan̪ˠəxəsˠk/ (reflecting the form seanchasc)

### Noun

seanchas m (genitive singular seanchais or seanchasa)
* the body of historical, genealogical, etc., information that has been handed down by tradition
* (literary) history, lore, ancient tale (such as a fairy tale), account
** 1919, First Dáil of Ireland, Message to the Free Nations of the World:
    I gcúrsáibh náisiúntachta, tá deighilt ó bhonn idir Éire agus Sacsa i dtaoibh cineadh is teangan, béas is nós is seanchus.Nationally, the race, the language, the customs and traditions of Ireland are radically distinct from the English.
** 1920, Adam Mickiewicz, translated by Liam Ó Rinn, Leabhar na Polainne (translation of Księgi narodu polskiego i pielgrzymstwa polskiego), p. 93:
    Siniad Leabhar an Náisiúin Pholannaig agus Leabhar na nOilithreach bPolannach, leabhair nár ceapadh, ach a cnósadh a’ leabhraibh seanchuis na Polainne, […]Those are the Book of the Polish Nation and the Book of the Polish Pilgrims, books that were not made up, but collected from the books of Polish lore, […]
* (literary) ancient law
* pedigree
* (act of) storytelling, gossiping; chatting, inquiring about another's health, etc.
** 1906, “Scéal Ghiolla na gCochall Craicionn”, Téacsanna ó na Gleannta, printed in E. C. Quiggin, A Dialect of Donegal, p. 231:
    Labhair sí leis ⁊ ní robh sé fonnmhar seanchas(c) air bith do dheánadh.She spoke to him but he was not willing to do any chatting.
** 1929, Tomás Ó Criomhthain, An t-Oileánach, page 65:Ní h-í an chomhairle sin óm’ mháthair is mó do mhaoluigh me ach bhíos ana-thugtha do sheanchas Thomáis agus thógas de rogha bheith ag éisteacht leis.It wasn’t this advice from my mother that moderated me the most, but I was very attached to Tomás’s storytelling, and I made the choice to listen to him.

#### Declension

bare forms
case
singular
nominative
seanchas
vocative
a sheanchais
genitive
seanchais
dative
seanchas
forms with the definite article
case
singular
nominative
an seanchas
genitive
an tseanchais
dative
leis an seanchas don seanchas :
bare forms
case
singular
nominative
seanchas
vocative
a sheanchas
genitive
seanchasa
dative
seanchas
forms with the definite article
case
singular
nominative
an seanchas
genitive
an tseanchasa
dative
leis an seanchas don seanchas :

#### Derived terms

* banseanchas (“women’s lore”)
* dinnseanchas (“topography”)
* naomhsheanchas (“hagiography”)

#### Related terms

* seanchaí (“storyteller”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* ↑ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “senchas, senchus”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* ↑ McCone, Kim (1995) “OIr. senchae, senchaid and preliminaries on agent noun formation in Celtic”, in Ériu, volume 46, pages 1–10
* ↑ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*kʷiso-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 180
* ↑ Sjoestedt, M. L. (1931) Phonétique d’un parler irlandais de Kerry [Phonetics of an Irish Dialect of Kerry] (in French), Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, § 74, page 39
* ↑ Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart [The Aran Dialect] (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 229
* ↑ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 138, page 55

### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “seanchas”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “seanchas”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
* “seanchas”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

## Scottish Gaelic
### Alternative forms

* seanachas

### Etymology

From Old Irish senchas, senchus (“old tales, ancient history, tradition; genealogy; traditional law”).

### Pronunciation

* (Lewis) IPA: /ˈʃɤ̃ˈnɤ̃xəs̪/
* (Uist, Barra) IPA: /ˈʃɛ̃ˈnãxəs̪/
* (Skye, Wester Ross) IPA: /ˈʃɛ̃ˈnɛ̃xəs̪/

### Noun

seanchas m (genitive singular seanchais, plural seanchasan)
* lore
* chat, talk, gossip
    Synonyms: agallamh, còmhradh

#### Usage notes

* Can be used as a verbal noun:
    Bha iad a' seanchas ri chèile. ― They were talking to each other.

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### References

* ↑ Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “senchas, senchus”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* ↑ Oftedal, M. (1956) A linguistic survey of the Gaelic dialects of Scotland, Vol. III: The Gaelic of Leurbost, Isle of Lewis, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
* ↑ John MacPherson (1945) The Gaelic dialect of North Uist (Thesis)‎, Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh
* ↑ Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937) The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Oslo: Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap
* ↑ Roy Wentworth (2003) Gaelic Words and Phrases From Wester Ross / Faclan is Abairtean à Ros an Iar, Inverness: CLÀR, →ISBN

### Further reading

* Edward Dwelly (1911) “seanchas”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN